China To Continue Harsh Property Measures Through 2012

China’s government has announced that it intends to plough onwards with its harsh property regulations in the New Year, as it strives towards its goal of making homes more affordable for its citizens.

Continuation of such regulations is likely to result in further declines in the number of sales in the country, experts have said.

No letting up: China is to continue its harsh real estate measures. Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Chinese officials revealed their resolve to carry through the policies they began earlier this year during the recent Central Economic Work Conference.

Qin Hong, deputy director of policy research at the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said that he expected land and property sales, as well as property development to decrease in the first three months of next year, when he announced the plans.

Mr. Hong also revealed the progress that the government’s plans were making, saying that last November had marked a turning point in China’s real estate markets. While the decline in property prices had previously been restricted to China’s biggest cities, November finally saw this decline start to spread into smaller, second-tier cities.

Observers were quick to dissuade fears of a property slump in the country however. Helen Liu of Beijing Holdways, a real estate service provider, pointed out that the government wouldn’t let this happen, as property was too closely tied to the country’s financial system and its economy.

Indeed, she said that there was a good chance that the government could relax its control measures during the next year, should property prices drop by another 20% to 30%.